February 14, 2006

Note that this story is not from a Muslim country — it’s from England.

DERBY, England â€” Lina, a wide-eyed 18-year-old, is still trying to get the hang of freedom in three-inch heels.

Until a month ago, Lina had never worn Western clothing. Her parents, immigrants from Pakistan, insisted she wear the jilbab, the head-to-toe covering favored by conservative Muslims.

When she turned 16, her parents informed her that she was “engaged” to her first cousin, a 21-year-old man she detested. When she balked, she said, her parents withdrew her from school and locked her in her room, where they told her she would remain until she consented.

“They put two padlocks on the door and they locked the windows,” she said. They also installed spikes along the top of the backyard fence so she couldn’t climb over.

Lina’s imprisonment lasted nearly two years. The only time she was allowed out of her room was to do housework. There were frequent beatings, she said, and endless mental cruelties.